Link to blog rather than cutting and pasting reams of text and so you can ignore it if you want...

http://paulwaring.blogspot.com/2010/05/no-winners-only-losers-election.h...

The Labour MPs go away and reinvent themselves, having had the kicking they deserve (the MPs, not the party).

Cameron can't keep the lid on the Nasty Party hordes and the Lib Dem support quickly disintegrates as they realise just what they've done.

Another election within the next year, and we get a reinvigorated Labour government who realise that authoritarian control measures (ID cards, death-by-audit etc) aren't such a good idea after all.

Only problem is I can't think of anyone I'd much care for as a Labour Prime Minister (other than Eddie Izzard).

I know Keane are popular, but this really is going a bit far...

George Osborne is our new Chancellor

oh....

Most people in this country don't want the shiny puffy people to govern;

There's an economic tsunami coming which traditional Tory values (ie. turning a blind eye to your rich mates' dodgy deals) won't prevent - so Snooty and pals will fuck up royally;

We'll get a better, perhaps even Socialist, opposition party as a result;

Cameron's not even popular within his own party.

and gets back in league with the unions

I can dream...

- how do you feel?
I was going to vote Lib Dem right up until the day before when I followed my heart and went Labour. I'm not sure I'd sleep well if I had voted (inadvertently) for Dave 'n' Gideon.

I am torn between enormous pleasure at finally seeing this country rid of Brown and his corrupt,incompetent useless rabble and an almost equal suspicion that Cameron picking up this poisoned chalice may regret it almost instantly. Part of me wants Labour to have to shovel up the shit they've dumped all over us; if the Lib Dems want to hold the plastic bag open for the Conservatives then someone has to do it.

I think Clegg will find that he's pissed a lot of goodwill up against the wall . interesting that the whole 'mess left behind by previous incumbent' as excuse for incompetence crap is starting already.

We're Doomed!!

Eh?

What does that mean precisely?

He's not even in the door and he's talking nonsense.

He looks like he's shitting himself. To be fair, he ought to be.

Not a fan but he has played a blinder these past few days.

Fixed term parliament! - lots of you are going to have get used to the Conservatives in power hehehe

- the news report about GBH's departure has the usual gushing stuff, which we simply wouldn't accept from anyone who'd basically been sacked from their job for being pretty hopeless. I've got a sneaking suspicion that we'll see a "John Major treatment" of him, namely the general line that he was a decent sort really but not quite up to the job, as opposed to being somewhere between a disaster and a failure.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8675913.stm

- "what do Lib Dem voters think"? I should hope that, as supporters of electoral reform then they should (quite rightly) accept that you will almost inevitably get a coalition government of some kind which may (if you're lucky) involve your own party. I'm afraid those who voted Lib Dem in the genuine belief that it would ensure Cameron never gets into Number 10 were being rather naive.

Oh, and for the record I didn't vote for MFPB.

by agreeing to fixed terms Cameron has already managed to do one good thing, which is prey much the same total Brown achieved over 5 years.

special news report with 'News Theme' (Raiders Of The Lost Ark mix). Akin to the 'sad theme' at the end of a particulalry emotional Eastenders

I say that as a member of a ridiculed minority called unashamed Tory supporters. Been voting for them since 1997 and this is the first ray of light I've seen. Incidentally, I used to believe all that Left-Liberal stuff too – until I was almost 40 – but the case against it can be summarised in four words: Good Intentions, Bad Outcomes.

Anyone else put in mind of the Dead Kennedys? As a Scot and someone who works in the public sector, sorry 'public sector efficiency measure' I can only hope we're not looking at a Kick up the Eighties again. It only ends up with 'Steeltown' by Big Country y'know.

Did anyone else cringe at the placard-waving, 'Tory scum' shouting, 1980's nostalgicising 'angry mob' heckling William Hague and heard in the background during Cameron's speech earlier? I found it toe-curling.

Their mummies and daddies must have been like, *well* upset.

Cameron is taking on a poisoned chalice. We're only now about see the fan after the shit hit it in relation to the economy. No government irrespective of flag is going to have much leverage in delivering the brutal truth in terms of cuts, rises and painful long-term decisions. But the poison in the chalice runs deeper than that. We have a political machine that has been shown to be morally bankrupt with the expenses scandal and an electorate unable to quantify or qualify its disgust with the political system we have at the moment. A hung Parliament reflected that without actually delivering a knock-out blow. It was a warning across the bow at best.

The danger for this country is that we fail to work with the consensus that is there irrespective of who is at the helm. Our economic, moral and social problems are common to us all and it's the blinkered who think that only Tories are capable of cronyism and favouring their "type" to fulfil a mandate for a privileged few. Get f*cking real. Do you really think the Tories are here to usher in a new era of Thatcherism? Do your homework FFS. Cronyism is rife everywhere in politics and you're a fool if you think a bit of socialist tub-thumping by some union leader or a bloke with a Northern accent standing outside a Council house equates to them caring a shit about your personal welfare. They've all been at the trough for years, it's just that some are better at giving the impression they've led an angelic existence in our interests.

The danger for this country is that by ignoring the consensus in order to take some ideological ground because a posh bloke is in No.10 is a profoundly stupid route to take. Half the Labour cabinet was public school. Airing the ideological chips on your shoulder is just sticking your head in the sand and failing to see that the problem won't go away because some party that dreamed up the NHS has by default always had the monopoly on caring for you.

If we're not careful the old and tired ideological arguments that hang around many heads like a dead albatross will be allowed to fester on the margins where they will learn to grow and take root again in a new breed of divisive and viral politics like they have in the US, a politics based on denying the validity of a different viewpoint, a politics that is based on trashing the opposition for some intellectual higher ground or moral validity, or just to score points for a short-term gain whilst actually just chipping away a little bit more from the consensus that is right in front of our eyes. By all means be angry but don't allow that anger to be directed in the wrong place or towards people that have come from a different background.

As a businessman I'm fed up the back-teeth with Capitalism and Corporatism, both of which have been allowed to blossom under Labour's 13 year tenure. I want small government, local government and I want Entrepreneurism ripped away from the malevolence of modern Capitalism and allowed to bloom the way it's supposed to. But I also want people to start thinking for themselves and not for some ideology that was compromised years ago, whether it was Socialism or Capitalism, and which has never reflected the ideals of Representative Democracy. Ever.

There are problems everywhere but there are genuine opportunities here that can be turned into real gains if we all just take off the blinkers and look at things anew.

Waffly and woolly I know but I'm just tired of the same crap being dished out time and time again.

Pint anyone?

I wished for three things

The safe birth of my second child
For David Cameron not to become Prime Minister
For Exeter City not to be relegated

Two out of three isn't bad, although politically we are drifting into the arena of the unwell. My newborn son showed his tacit agreement at the moment Cameron left the Palace by screwing up his face and doing a shit so powerful that it went through the nappy, body suit and sleep suit.

that's the sound of Cameron's and Clegg's honeymoon period hurtling into the distance. Now they emerge from the dark of the negotiating rooms, the hostility they saw before the election might be nothing compared to what comes now.

Things are about to get fairly rocky, especially if the spending cuts bite hard (perhaps the tax allowance thing is a doomed attempt to distract attention while it happens)

The glittering prizes and endless compromises, shatter the illusion of integrity.
For everyone who thought Nick Clegg was a breath of fresh air in politcs. Behold the foul stench of a Con Dem alliance.

The Pet Shop Boys of politics

The Con-Lib coalition will end in tears, and we'll be back at the polls by this time next year, with a fresh-faced Labour leader who'll twat the posh boy and his mates.

how many of you open the car door for the FPO?

careful consideration, weighed up the pros and cons and come to the conclusion that it's all a load of old bollocks that changes nothing.

That was probably the best speech Brown ever delivered!

Nevertheless goodbye and good riddance.

or was this site much quicker under a Labour government?

Although I voted Labour, before the election, I toyed with voting Lib Dem because I felt that might lead to a more progressive future. Like many, I expected the Lib Dems and Labour to have enough seats between them to form a coalition...but how different the reality is. The only good is that some of the more extreme edges of Tory policy will be shaved off, but essentially it is still very much a Tory government. As a left leaning person, I find this depressing. Perhaps not as depressing as 1992 when Labour lost it at the last moment, but not far off.

Although I voted Labour, before the election, I toyed with voting Lib Dem because I felt that might lead to a more progressive future. Like many, I expected the Lib Dems and Labour to have enough seats between them to form a coalition...but how different the reality is. The only good is that some of the more extreme edges of Tory policy will be shaved off, but essentially it is still very much a Tory government. As a left leaning person, I find this depressing. Perhaps not as depressing as 1992 when Labour lost it at the last moment, but not far off.

This site seems v slow tonight - everyone must be posting at once!

We're. All. Fucked.

We've been fucked for years

losing might wind up being the best thing for Labor. It's likely the economy will take a further beating over the next few years (there has to be more to come, particularly given the Greek situation), the Tories will have a truckload of favours to pay back (and have even more groups/individuals expecting favours) and the grass-roots LibDem folk are not likely to allow their leadership too much slack. Even if he has the best intentions in the world, the new PM will have to turn things around fairly quickly or things might get ugly in two or three years time.

And if it does all go to crap, will the Conservatives be given another chance.

Hold on, I just need to polish my crystal ball...

No not THAT BNP. I voted for the Bolton Numpty Party but she just missed the seat by 83 votes. Did anyone see any of their candidates out on the street or knocking on doors? I was bombarded with leaflets and personal letters from Dave but never had a chance to discuss policies, parties or rock & roll.

Bet it will be different when they want to change the voting system through a referendum. Well bollocks to them, my voting card will be for sale on eBay, to the highest bidder. How soon will we see the opposition parties in parliament haranguing the Lib Dems for "selling out" when in fact it was because they did not sell out to them. I'll guess at tomorrow.

Top Lass .........

You're wrong. About everything.

Voted tactically for the Lib Dems in Newbury, one of them thar marginals, hoping to keep the Tories out, didn't quite work out like I'd hoped!

Still, at the end of the day, you get the meeja you deserve, you get the culture you deserve, you get the judiciary you deserve, you get the government you deserve, and you get the country you deserve.

You got the Tories. You deserve it.

BR
FT

http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/comment/edit/264900
enjoy.

I can't believe some of the guff that is being written about the 'horror' of potential public sector cuts. I'm a Scot and I've worked in (and out) of the public sector for 25 years. There is absolutely no doubt that massive savings could be made in the public sector without impacting on so-called 'front line' services.

...the starving child was pressganged into cleaning it under new Tory legislation.

But seriously.

I have to confess I filled up when Gordon Brown said goodbye outside No10. A decent, principled, serious man to the end - what a tragedy this failed to come across to enough people.

He replaced shabby hospitals and schools in the boom years and saved us from depression in the bad.

But you could see why New Labour, and especially Brown, needed operators like Mandelson and Campbell to deal with the rabid right-wing press and to hone his policy and speeches. Brown could have done with them in his first year as PM.

A Lab-Lib pact just didn't feel right - both parties lost seats in the election and the 'rainbow alliance' seemed fragile, especially as Labour intended to do without the SNP.

By contrast the Lib Dems have made a huge blunder accepting cabinet posts in the new government. They may have won concessions on policy but will now be tainted by any nasty Tory policy lurking in the wings.

England seems divided now - (wild generalisation alert) - north of Stoke the big cities with their own identities are more broadminded and open to change, below Stoke and around the south coast the small towns and villages have conservative ways and Conservative ways.

A ConDem split could lead to disaster.

and I am therefore on a pretty fixed income.I just hope the Liberals can do something to act as a brake on the Tories inbred inclinations to shaft the poorest in society.I just know I'll end up being ripped off by yet another well off tosser whilst being totally disregarded by his greedy bile filled supporters.Hey Ho.The more things change the more they stay the same.
Good to see you did some work on the old smugness over the weekend Seb:-)

those on the right I really think we have been manipulated by the hysterical right wing press. For Gods sake this financial crisis that we experienced had its roots in the American Prime loan market. Did Gordon Brown create that too? Fucking Cameron hasn't even moved into his new house yet and they are talking of 500,000 public sector workers losing their jobs over next 5 years. Let us see how this unravels but my guess is that Schools and Pensioners will be first to suffer.
Oh well let's just go back to 'fuck everyone else, what's in it for me?' politics. Just what the press wanted.
The chance of this govt lasting 5 years is pretty remote IMHO.

It would be interesting to re-run the leader's debate and see just how much Cleggy has chosen to overlook in a bid for semi-power. Didn't he say something about the Tories and bigots, homophobes, antisemites & nutters. Doesn't seem to matter to him now.

and get used to it. If we get proportional representation these last few days of horsetrading and backstabbing will be the norm. Someone said on TV in the last hour there are only 3 countries in Europe with straight majorities and one coalition government took 40 days to form.

Do we want to see a country run by a coalition that relies on the support of minor parties with extreme views. I suspect not.

f uck.

by the strength of feeling on here. I'm not really a supporter of any party, but if I was still a Labour supporter I don't think I would see the current situation as so bad.

I don't think it's good for any democracy to have one party in charge for too long. The Tories were in power too long last time and I think the same could be said for Labour this time.

As things stand, it will give Labour a chance to refresh, get their act together and be back in power before too long. I'm not a Tory by any stretch, but a lot of the comments on here seem very irrational. Bashing Cameron because of the shape of his face or because of Thatcher all seems a bit pathetic.

I don't really understand people who say more people voted against the Tories than for them. The same was true with Labour in 2005, but nobody said anything then. At least now we have a government that the majority of people voted for some of.

From a practical point of view, the country can't go on borrowing £1 of every £4 it spends, so lets just hope the Cons/Libs can get this under control.

Seems to rather have sold his grass roots down the river with this unholy alliance. I would guess that a large majority of his voters would have put Labour as second choice rather than the Conservatives.
The chance of playing with the big boys has turned his head and he and his chums are already spinning that it was Labour who wouldn't deal with them to take the heat off the fact that beliefs tend to disappear when it comes to crunch time.
His speech last night about the four things that were so important to him and his party even omitted voting reform. Christ it didn't take him long to sell out.
I voted Lib Dem tactically but will never do so again.Can I have my vote back?

Hopefully Vince Cable is now giving Gideon the same tutorial in Economics he used to give his first year undergrads. There's scum in every political party, but there appears to be some talented individuals in the Cabinet. And frankly, in terms of policy, we appear to be entering a new era of Butskellism (ask your Dad).

They've gone up today....Bloody Tories.

an end to news presenters being heckled by nutters in Parliament Square?

Thats a shame, that was the only bit of this hung parliament I was enjoying.

See you in four years\ 6 months\ next week (delete as applicable)

It's a new way for British politics - most voters wanted change and they've now got it. Let's give it a chance - we're all skint anyway!

but this time next year you will be pining for the days of 2.51 million unemployed. Yes there are some talented people in this coalition - Vince Cable would make a great chancellor. Instead we get that sap Osborne. It already appears they have fudged the big issues. What happens about Trident? What happens about PR? What happens about Europe? What happens about immigration? Are all of Cleggs manifesto pledges thrown out the window. The person who came third has wielded the power - exactly how is that right?

thank fuck for the Scottish Parliament.

With due respect to people who have posted on here along those lines I don't really agree with the notion that the Conservatives are a bunch of braying toffs who drink champagne out of top hats and are hell-bent on making life a misery for poor people.
Grow up.
The Tories want the same the same things as the saintly Labour party does: a good health service and education system; a prosperous economy that affords everyone a decent standard of living. To pretend that they don't, that they're evil scumbags, is just silly.
One way of looking at post-WW2 British politics is that it has been a process of incremental Buttskellism. The Con/Lib coalition is its logical conclusion and I think it'll be a really good government. The people involved are intelligent; their hearts are in the right place.
No doubt Charlie Whelan and his Unite mob will do all they can to derail it once the cuts kick in, but I'd be interested to know what all you Labour supporters imagine would have happened had Labour been re-elected. Carry on spending and borrowing indefinitely? Well Mervyn King would have a thing or two to say about that. And those IMF fellas are brutes.
Tooth fairy?

and i sleep at night.

that the Tories and the Labour govt, in fact any govt, want the same thing. It is how we get there that is the difference. We can only judge the Conservative party on its past performance which if I recall gave us the highest unemployment figures we ever had, the highest loss of home ownership ever experienced and Hospital waiting lists that were an embarrassment to the NHS. I accept that they also did some good but it is pretty hard to refute the fact that a lot of hooray Henrys got very rich very quickly and that, certainly under Thatcher, this society of ours was infinitely more selfish than it is today. I concur that big cuts are needed whoever resides at number 10 but the timing of the cuts is pretty important and punishing the less well off should be a last resort as opposed to the apparent first resort of abolishing inheritance tax to please the rich Bastards who really don't need the help.

So, what was one of the key planks of Tory policy during the election campaign? What was the big stick they repeatedly used to beat Gordon and the Labour party with? What was the Labour policy they said would 'kill the economy' and threaten thousands of jobs? Yes, the plans to raise National Insurance. Right, Dave, you're in office now - let's get cracking with our big idea to scrap the NI rise and save all those jobs and the economy!!

Hang on....what's that? The taxpayer will pay the full 1% increase proposed by Labour?? Surely some mistake!!!?! Employers will also pay a (slightly reduced) increase (those letters of support from fifteen million business leaders did the trick, eh Dave??)?? It can't be true!!!!

It's a good job you acted swiftly on that terrible, Labour policy, Dave - imagine what might have happened if it had gone through!! Economy killed!! All praise the Tory manifesto!!

"If you work with c*nts long enough you become one". Good luck, Nick.

I have two comments: firstly, accusing the BBC of political bias to the left is a bit rich when their chief correspondent is an ex-President of the Oxford University Conservative Association and an ex-national chairman of the Young Conservatives. To be fair to Nick Robinson, I think he did a sterling and balanced job over the last week or two. Accusing his employers of political bias is, I think, cheap, lazy and tired. A bit like the Daily Express.

Secondly, the comfort I take from the current deployment of cheesy mates* is that so far, thank God, they have managed to keep Letwin well away from anything with moving parts.

*Not cheap, Mark JF, just provocative, and deliberately so; this needs discussion here, and 200 plus posts at the time of counting say I'm right.

I've just finished work, it was long, hard and have a cut down my arm which hurts. Consequently if I offend anyone I apologise in advance.

I voted Conservative, as I stated in the other thread. I have no problem admitting that. The Conservative party didn't get an overall majority. I can admit that. I can also admit that the party led by Cameron is not the same entity as it was under Thatcher, Churchill, Heath or any other. Like any company or conglomerate, its a living beast shaped by the people in it at any given time. And very similarly the New Labour creature is very different now to that under Foot or that forced in the welfare state in the late 1940s. They are very different parties. At the moment, the government in place now includes the Lib Dems. I think this is a better idea that I would have done the same time last week, based on the strength of some of the choices of frontbenchers that have been announced. There's someone for everyone. And Hague gets a good show in as the Foreign Secretary. I've always liked Hague, check out any of his PM questions against Blair. Superb stuff.

I think a coalition can be weak, however, it worked during the War. Which was a tough time. Let's all hope that the government do the sane thing and do their jobs, rather than creating new ones that don't necessarily do anything (hello, Blair's many quangos). It may not. However, the very fact that Cameron has already claimed a fixed term government, both publicly, and to all the people on the Conservative mailing list (yes, I really am that cool!) stating that if after 4 (or 5) years we the people of GB are more than welcome to get rid of them. The Lib Dem aspect adds an interesting conundrum. Will they fight, will they be more extreme? Or more pressingly will it provide the government with a counterpoint with which to (at least in theory) poke and prod Cameron until he starts to deliver on his manifestos. That has potential to be a great asset. Clegg could be the Jiminy Cricket figure offering a voice of conscience to Cameron. Or he could turn into the next Alistair Campbell or Darth Mandelson. And I don't think anyone wants that.

Why the rant? No reason, just felt like I needed to share.

Did think it interesting that if you actually look at the election results in terms of geographical representation, Labour appears to have substantially less control over the country, commanding London, south Wales, and bits of the England/Scottish border. Labour only have more seats because they won more of the smaller constituencies. Whereas the conservatives control about 2/3 of the country (geographically speaking). Lump together the smaller constituencies to be the same size (roughly) of the larger ones to have more of an equal size would have given the conservattives a majority. But then that was never going to be allowed, was it? It's just a thought. The whole north/south divide really doesn't seem to be as much as people make out based on this diagram. (Yes its BBC but its fact)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/

that the third runway planned for Heathrow has been cancelled by the new government. Sems like a good decision to me. Can I keep my job now Dave?

of two pasty-faced chaps standing behind a lectern in Downing Street. 'What are Ant And Dec up to now?' I thought to myself. Really must clean my spectacles.

I wonder if the Tories will use Cleggie's boys and girls as camouflage whilst they try to smuggle in some savage right-wing policies? Blair did this under the guise of "Hey, guys, we're Labour!" Can anyone imagine the furore if the Tories had suggested student loans or the current self-funding for further education?

And I do hope the Tories will put a brake on the limitless audit-and-track culture which now seems to pervade all areas of society. Yes, it is well-meaning but it is simply an exercise in hoop-jumping. The teachers are starting to rebel with SATS, hopefully others will follo